The stories “Salvation” and “Araby” are both told by adult narrators looking back on a painful episode in their lives. Please address the following two questions.
Now imagine the narrators are telling you the story in a cafe or bar. Describe the voice and attitude of the narrator of “Salvation” as he tells the story. Describe the voice and attitude of the narrator of “Araby” as he recounts his experience. In what ways are the voices and attitudes of the two narrators different and why?
To receive full credit, you must address both questions.
Please address comments to others by name so that we can all follow along.
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55 thoughts on “Week 1 Discussion”
Beaubelle Baybay 7/14/2020
I don’t think the narrators are adults but I do believe that they’re young men who may be coming of age whom are most likely in their young teens. The narrator in “Arabay” indicates that he plays in streets with other boys, goes to catholic school, and is under the care of his aunt and uncle. I can also sense he is going into his adolescence because he portrays a very naive and young-minded mind set. On the other hand, the narrator from “Salvation” indicates that he is surrounded by boys and girls who in a church setting. He talks about how the pastor is asking for the children to come to the altar to be saved by Christ, and from outside knowledge, I know that this ceremony is usually done when kids are entering their adolescence.
The narrator from “Salvation” had a confused tone to his voice. It sounds like he wasn’t very sure of what was happening around him and also a desire for immediate answers. I say this because he kept saying “I wanted to see him, but nothing happened to me. Nothing! I wanted something to happen to me, but nothing happened.” This indicates that he was open to the idea of Christ but needed to be further educated on his religion. He also lied about receiving Jesus for the sake of the crowd around him. He also describes the setting as “hot and crowded” assuming he does not want to be there.
The narrator from Araby sounded very naive and oblivious. He also seemed like a young boy who was stuck on the idea of his crush and her presence entertained his thoughts that he wanted to go out of his way to gift her. His tone expresses determination and ignorance. He comes to an epiphany in the end where you can see his realization that his actions may be pointless. He sounded excited at first until he realized what he needed to see and was blinded from young love.
Both narrators differed from voice and attitude because one didn’t like the setting he was in and had the same attitude throughout the story. While the other was feeling mixed emotions from excited, happy, anxious, to disappointed but came out with a great lesson.
Beaubelle, I love your wonderful name! Thank you for breaking the ice and starting the conversation. I hope you’ll revisit the question, however. The question is very specific and asks you to imagine the adult voice of the narrators. It is a given that the narrators are both adults looking back on a painful incident in childhood. The clues to the fact that they are adults are in the language and in the depth of understanding expressed in the story. In “Araby” we read phrasing like this: “What innumerable follies laid waste my waking and sleeping thoughts after that evening. I wished to annihilate the tedious intervening days” (Joyce). Does this sound like the way a child would describe the slow passage of time? In “Salvation,” there is ironic language that a child would not use. This is not to say that you haven’t made some good observations about the story.
Thank you Professor Conway! I apologize I’ve misinterpreted the first question! But you are absolutely right, the vocabulary the authors have used are very mature and not child like at all. Thank you for pointing that out to me.
Hello Beaubelle! You are right, the narrators (the one who tells the story) are young men, but the authors had written the stories in the adulthood, that was the question, if I am not wrong.
That is why a bit not agree with your fist paragraph.
I love you observation in the voice and tones of the narrators. For example, I can agree on ”
Salvation”‘s narrator has a confused voice. I can hear that.
Thank you, was pleasure.
Lizaveta Hlazkina.
Narrator is the person who is telling the story. The stories “Salvation” by Langston Hughes and “Araby” by James Joyce are both told by adult narrators looking back to their young age time. But how we caught ourselves on the thoughts that the stories of young man are told by grown narrators?
In the story “Salvation” is full of irony. As we all know, Salvation is the act of being saved or born again in the Christion religion. The author starts his story with the phrase “at the age of twelve I was saved from sin” when he ironically continued that “he was not really saved”. His Aunt Reed, who was a very religious person, told him, that if he was saved, he would see a light. That would mean Jesus had come into his life. The boy was waiting for the mysterious light too literally. After all, he cried all night, as he thought Jesus had skipped him for some reason.
In the other story “Araby” we see a young man, probably at the age of twelve, who fall in love with a girl. The narrator hopes to find a good present for her at Araby. Araby became a mythical and magical place, where all his dreams would come true.
The both stories full of small details, that add flavor of memories from childhood, rather than they both written by boys. That is how we know they are written by adult narrators.
If we would hear the story “Salvation” in a café or bar, the voice of the narrator would be sarcastic. If we would hear the story “Araby” in a café or a bar the voice of the narrator would be dramatic, slow, with long breathing between words. This happens, because the first story is full of irony and sarcasm, and the way you speak it out is very important to represent that sarcasm. The second story is a story of feelings of a young man, that is why we need to feel this dramatism through the way he talks.
Lizaveta, your last paragraph gets more to the heart of the question this week, but I would have liked to hear more. You do make a great point when you mention the use of ironic language in “Salvation.” Most children don’t have a good understanding of verbal irony beyond sarcasm—especially when it comes to stories about themselves. By the way, we don’t have to retell the plot in these discussions. I’m trying to get to the idea of “tone” in a work of literature. We might think of this as the voice of the narrator, and it expresses his or her attitude about the events in the story. Just a note for everyone in the group: Remember that narrator and author are not the same. The author creates a narrator to tell the story. (This is not directed at anything you wrote, Lizaveta, but the important distinction comes to mind as we discuss tone and voice.
Hi Lizaveta,
I’ve misinterpreted the first question but after reading your response, I 100% agree with you. I could see that they’re adults whom looked back at their experiences as young men. Their use of vocabularies also show strong adult language. We can see how both stories show some type of “coming of age” experience because of the things they had to go through. The narrator from “Araby” would’ve most definitely been more naive and child-like if he was telling it as his younger self. I can see why you say the tone would be dramatic and slow because this situation seemed big and emotional for the author. Thank you for sharing response and correcting me! Great work.
We can tell that the protagonists in James Joyce’s “Araby” and Langston Hughes’ “Salvation” are adults due to the words chosen and sentences used by the narrators to explain their life experiences. In “Salvation” we see this right in the first line of the passage. “I was saved from sin when I was going on thirteen. But not really saved.” (Hughes) We know from reading the story that the final outcome was definitely not what the Hughes stated in the first sentence, and therefore can deduce that he is being slightly ironic, or sarcastic even. This suggests that he is looking back on the experience with a strong opinion about it. Another example is when the narrator states that he was “waiting to see Jesus” (Hughes) among the intense worship and song that was going on around him in the church. Although his aunt explains to him beforehand that being saved resulted in Jesus having a presence in the soul, he takes it too literally.
In “Araby”, one example of the narrator’s age is apparent in the second paragraph when he talks about how the “waste room behind the kitchen was littered with old useless papers” (Joyce). Without having read the books subsequently listed, it’s still obvious to the reader that they are most likely important literary works included in the story by Joyce for a specific reason. Therefore, being referred to as useless by the narrator would suggest his age and lack of knowledge about literature. The boy also states that he liked one of the books the most because of its color, which is a juvenile reason to like a book.
The voice and attitude of the two narrators from each story differ greatly. In “Araby”, the voice is that of naivety and romanticism that turns ultimately into feelings of defeat and foolishness about the real world of adulthood. In “Salvation”, the voice is initially of anxious expectation, but quickly turns to that of shame (from lying) and doubt of faith.
Hello Mark! Really great point of view! I love how you come back to small details in explain why narrators are adults. For example “old useless papers”. I had the same opinion about sarcasm in “Salvation” that shows us an adult mind.
Didn’t get it about the voice and tones, but overall
Great job!
Comment to Mark’s work (edited):
Hello Mark! Really great point of view! I love how you come back to small details in explain why narrators are adults. For example “old useless papers”.
I had the same opinion about sarcasm in “Salvation” that shows us an adult mind. We saw that in his first sarcastic sentence when he used “nor really saved”.
Voice in Araby are low and romantic as you said, I agree. Interesting, if the author would tell us the story in the cafe, would it be sad tone or more pleasant-romantic.
Overall, great job!
Thanks Lizaveta!
Hi Marc, I share the same views as you about Hughes attitude being sarcastic and ironic. Hughes thought that he would be saved by Jesus, his aunt did not really explain that it was not literally but more of a spiritual salvation. I also agree with what you said about the narrator looking back at his experience with a strong opinion about it. I believe he was peer pressured into believing this whole salvation and after that experience it changed his views on religion in a negative way.
hi marc. I agree with your thoughts and I also think that due to the culture and their social status, the boy decided to lie and believe on this whole idea of salvation. he did not have a voice because he was pressured by his aunt and his fellow friends. this way, he could have a better understanding that god only wants us to rather give than receive. and this way , gods will eventually offer their wisdom to him for a better life ending.
Hello marc, I really like your point of view. Your analysis of “salvation” gives me an new understanding of this article. Your understanding of both “Salvation” and “Arabs” are very deep. Some subtle information that I did not find in the article was explained by you . i really like your description of the sound. Your description of their voices is very consistent with their emotions in the story. After reading your understanding of the article, I have a deeper understanding of these two articles. great job！
The narrator from “Salvation” and the narrator in “Araby” are adults due to the use of adult language, and word choices. The narrators both tell their childhood experiences from their own point of view in that time. In the story Salvation by Langston Hughes, the reader can tell the age of the narrator (Hughes) when he starts off with a cynical perspective about salvation and his belief in Jesus. The author sets the tone for sarcasm when he states “I was saved from sin when I was going on thirteen. But not really saved”. (Hughes) In the story Hughes gives the reader an honest explanation of his childhood’s loss of faith. Hughes uses irony throughout the story to clarify this idea of religious competence. Hughes also uses imagery to give a vivid description of the church and its atmosphere.
The story “Araby” by James Joyce is a story about a young boy who is experiencing love for the first time. In the story the narrator’s age becomes evident when he makes statements such as ”Her dress swung as she moved her body, and the soft rope of her hair tossed from side to side.”(Joyce) he was experiencing sexual attraction“. The narrator also expresses ‘’Her image accompanied me even in places the most hostile to romance,”. (Joyce) The narrator uses mature language to describe his overall experience with what he perceived to be love.
If the narrator from “Salvation” Langston Hughes was at a café telling me his story I believe he would use a cynical tone to describe how his belief in Jesus and religion were disappointing. If the narrator in “Araby” James Joyce was at a café telling me his story he would use a sarcastic and a dismal tone to describe his loss of innocence and describe what he thought was love.
Roselyn, you clearly have a grasp on the differences between the two stories. As I’ve said to other students, I’m asking you to go out on a limb and engage in some creative thinking about the two narrators. There’s no right or wrong answer here; I’m asking you to image the narrators as real people. I’m asking you to take a creative leap and think about how they would behave as they told their stories in a real-life situation.
Thank you Professor Conway. I apologize for question 2 I was unsure of what type of response you wanted.
Roselyn, it’s okay. Your response shows a deep understanding of the stories. I ask students to engage in a little creative writing here to arrive at an understanding of what “tone” is in a literary sense. My best definition for it is that tone is the voice of the narrator and the emotions it suggests.
Roselyn Jaquez
While I agree with you to an extent that the narrator’s attitude in Araby was very sarcastic and dismal. I’m also of the opinion that his tone was very enraged, bitter even. Yes, it surely seems as if he hasn’t gotten over all that happened. After all he practically worshiped her, like you said she appeared everywhere in his imagination. Also, I think that even though the narrator in Salvation was disappointed he seemed to have gotten over the issue he had a little sense of humor surrounding the situation.
Roselyn, you write very well! You picked great reasons for the answer to question one, and you got us off to a great start in the creative writing portion (question 2). Let me take it a bit further!
So Langston Hughes is in a bar, he keeps ordering drinks (did he drink?), he is not just being cynical about faith, he’s being quite passionate and using a lot of passionate hand gestures to get his point across as he recounts the story. He’s animated telling the story of the chapel and the congregation’s energy in the moment. He possibly ends the story on a low note though, looking into his drink, think about the shame of lying and how he deals with it now. “I was really crying because I couldn’t bear to tell her that I had lied” (Joyce). He admits that he still goes back and forth about the existence of a Jesus.
The narrator of “Araby” would quite different in that he would not feel so shame, but more doubt about romancism or the ease of attaining..well..anything in life as easy as a child believes it can be done. Perhaps his posture isn’t as upright as it used to be. Perhaps he would be a guy with quite obvious self-esteem issues. The innocence of a child is clearly gone in the way he both recounts the story of the Araby Bazaar and in his attitude about what transpired. He blames himself for not being smarter, or even asks himself why he thought that he was so worthy of that goal to begin with?
Marc, this is exactly the kind of exercise in imagination I’m looking for. Even though it might seem fanciful, this is a good way to define the tone of a work of literature, which is something not easy to put into words. It’s easier to show what tone is rather than tell what it is, I think.
Hi Roselyn,
In addition to the sarcastic and dismal tone to express his pain and disappointment at the end of the story, the “Araby” narrator probably also uses passionate and nostalgic tone when he describes the first time he noticed her figure, her dress, her hair, curve of her neck, also when he describes how the thoughts of her made him tremble, how he much looked forward their next encounter. I think although this infatuation felt bitter and caused him much pain and disappointment, there were also sweetness and excitement in it that he cherishes.
I do believe the authors are adults by the format of the narration, as it is set from a first person view in a past tense gives me the feeling that they have already lived through those situations. Also both of the stories are very well structured and the implementation of figurative and literal language so fluently makes it hard to believe that it is being narrated by someone young.
If were to imagine the narrator of “Salvation” telling his story I could sense a mix of feelings on the voice tone, perhaps: disappointment , anxiety and hopelessness. This accompanied with confused yet approachable attitude as if he tries to understand why he had to go through all that.
Once I start visualizing the narrator of “Araby” going through his story I can sense hints of illusion and shame in his voice tone as if he still hold that bittersweet memory close. His attitude can be describe as someone wise that is trying to pass on his knowledge on “courtship” towards younger generations.
Both of the narrators come from different backgrounds and their stories are very different therefore their tones and attitudes will be different too. In “Salvation” the narrator is forced into a difficult position in where he must “convert” and “accept” Jesus in his life however he simply does not “feel” it but due to the peer pressure from his congregation he is compel to lie in order to be left alone. Therefore, it is understandable that after going through all this at a young age, the narrator tone and attitude can be described as someone with confusion, fear of rejection and doubt. However, in the case of “Araby” the narrator puts himself into that situation as he is trying to impress this girl that he is very attracted to by buying her a gift from the bazaar, but after trying to do so and failing he comes to the realization that it is pointless. A rough confrontation with reality might have turned the narrator attitude into someone with a deep ambivalence towards love and relationships.
Javier, I appreciate your good insights here on an intellectual level. However, I’m looking for all of you to just take a chance and describe how you imagine these narrators, based on the text of the story. I feel like everyone is searching for an academic “right or wrong” answer, rather than really thinking about these narrators as real human characters revealing things about themselves as they tell a story.
Javier, thanks for this very good take on the narration of the week’s stories, as well as your thoughts on the imagined storytellers. I always imagine the narrator of “Araby” as an embittered man without much humor. I think most of us smile a little when we look back on our first, implausible crush; however, this man still seems to regard the episode as painful. What happens to him in the story is so much larger than just not getting the girl. She has become the only spot of brightness and hope in his life; when this illusion is shattered, he is left with nothing but the bleak darkness of his life. I see some subtle humor in the way “Salvation” is told. I get the impression that the narrator has come to his own clear ideas about faith. I find the story quite hilarious actually though many don’t agree with me on this.
Hello Professor Conway, thanks for your feedback. It is funny how most of us after reading and listening to “Araby” can describe the narrator almost the same way. I can also understand why you sense the subtle humor on “Salvation” as it is present due to the irony from which the entire story is wrapped in, however I believe that, that same irony and humor is in sort of way a manner of concealing the trauma the narrator went through.
Javier, yes, you make a good point that the humor in “Salvation” does soften the sense of trauma in the story. This leads me to feel that narrator has come to terms with his own lack of religious faith. I don’t feel that the narrator of “Araby” has made peace with the factors that caused his heartbreak—not the girl but the bleakness of his life and environment.
Hi Javier,
We share the same thoughts on the narrator of “Araby” I do believe his tone of voice is dismal, we can also sense the shame as he is telling his story. I also agree with your statement that he is trying to pass on his knowledge towards younger generations about his experience, and how he realized that he was infatuated not in love. The narrators both experienced loss of innocence and loss of faith which had a significant impact on their childhood.
The narrators of “Salvation” and “Araby” are both adults recounting events in that occurred when both were younger. Langston Hughes encounter with Christianity and the process of been saved.” My aunt told me that when you were saved you saw a light, and something happened to you inside ! And Jesus came into your life! And God was with you from then on! She said you could see and hear and feel Jesus in your soul. I believe her” Hughes speaking here in the past tense is reflecting on his pass experience, the frame of mind of a child and the eventual disappointment of Jesus not coming to save him,” I was left all alone on the mourners’ bench” “And I kept waiting serenely for Jesus, waiting , waiting -but he didn’t come”. I wanted to see him, but nothing happened to me. Nothing! I wanted something to happen to me, but nothing happened “Hughes was expecting to see a light which in his view would be symbolizing Jesus coming in hi heart and saving his soul, while sitting on the mourners bench , that did not happen and he was disappointed , to that extent he lied when he was the last one to get up and move to the alter to save time because it was getting late
James Joyce’s “Araby” is an adult who is reflecting on his childhood experience growing up in Dublin Ireland, in the process he is discovering his love and affection towards ” Mangan’s sister” “These noises converged in a single sensation of life for me: I imagined that I bore my chalice safely through a throng of foes. Her name sprang to my lips at the moment in strange prayers and praises which I myself did not understand “.
Just to imagine Both Hughes and Joyce telling there respective stories in Bar would be of a soft tone expressing there childhood experience of religious beliefs that would run contrary to the current location or the representation of a bar, both Narrators had powerful religious encounter at a young age and so the fact that they are at a bar would be opposite from of the objective of the religious influence.
The voice and attitude of both Hughes and Joyce was one expressing sadness, a high level of hopelessness guilt and disappointment Hughes lied to please his Aunt and that the experience we wanted he did not get, he wanted Jesus to come and revealed himself and that did not happened, Joyce emphasize the difference between the world the religious institutions and how these different bodies put pressure on children to conform , his infatuation with Mangan sister seems to be his only mindset.
Joyce loss his innocence, his friends and in his mind he thought love would save him, he thought the world was perfect and good only to realize that it is corrupt and bad.
Both writers are expressing mixed emotions, they both are at a place of overwhelming joy with great expectations at some point in the experience, only to be disappointed with the outcome as they did not met expectations.
In the beginning of Salvation, the narrator stated that he was going on thirteen. In Araby, one could tell that the narrator was a teenager because he was getting disinterested in playing and wanted to focus on his thoughts and feelings for his friend’s sister.
I met Langston Hughes at a café in Dublin during which he begun sharing his childhood memories. He was satirical as he revisited a time in his youth where he thought he would have received salvation. He seemed very gullible as he expressed how he hung onto his aunt’s every word. As time went by his voice lowered in disbelief as he described a boy who went up to be saved just because he was tired of sitting there with all the attention. He was serious for a moment as he expressed feeling ashamed and conflicted that he eventually joined the other youths at the altar. He shook his head as he explained further that the irony of it all was that the more they cheered and shouted about him being saved, was the more he felt lost. By this time James Joyce had joined us at our table. Joyce feeling a bit nostalgic also reflected on his childhood. At first, he sounded lonely as he describes the repetitiveness of his daily routine which he longed for an escape. He became very incensed as he recalls details of his first crush. He called her his ‘first love’ as he steered into his empty glass. He looked up with great sorrow in his eyes as he referred to her as the holy grail. At times he took several deep breaths, one could easily see the look of failure and frustration on his face as he remembered having gone to the Araby and came back empty handed. He seemed very perplexed having been enlightened after such a disappointment.
In Salvation the narrator was slightly playful as he used sarcasm throughout the story. While the narrator in Araby seemed angry or resentful as he described how naïve he was having been blinded by love the whole time.
Sherika, thanks so much for creating this scene for us in which we get to meet two literary luminaries. I too sense the bitterness in the tone of the narrator of “Araby.” Many years have passed, but the experience still evokes pain in him. The narrator of “Salvation,” as you note, is able to tell the story in a “slightly playful” way, suggesting that he has come to terms with atheism or with some other, less literal view of religion. Thanks for going with your imagination a bit here!
Prof. Conway and Sherika,
I read what Sherika’s response to Roselyn and what Prof. Conway comments about the subtle humor in “Salvation” and I felt the same, but maybe because of the situation I grew up with makes me hesitate to mention it. I grew up in Indonesia and the government and the community see religion as delicate issues. We even must choose one among 5: Islam, Catholic, Christian, Buddhist, or Hindu, and list it in our identification card. I see Western society have more broader options, such as agnosticism, skepticism, atheism, and so on, giving much more freedom. I went to a Catholic school then, I also had the chance to go to a church that is similar to Hughes’, so I understand the pressure. Although I see the humor in his waiting for enlightenment and what his friend, Westley, said, I tend to keep this sort of amusement to myself.
Ella, thank your for sharing this cultural insight. It’s true that in many countries, religion is not a subject about which one can be humorous or ironical. It’s good for us to keep that in mind.
Hello Sherika,
I love how you used your imagination to create a scene with both Langston Hughes and James Joyce! I do believe Langston was quite gullible, but I also believe it was quite normal for someone his age. Langston was just becoming a teenager and when we are young we believe everything that our parents/guardians tell us. The fact that you were able to bring James Joyce in the scene was pretty cool! I feel like it went well with the story of Langston Hughes. Although their stories were somewhat different, they were very similar. Two adults now recapping on experiences they encountered in their early adolescent years. Great discussion board!
In “Salvation” we know that the narrator is an adult because in his opening paragraph he brings us back to the time when he was a boy of twelve years old as he states: “I was saved from sin when I was going on thirteen.” Further, more references to the past childhood follow as he describes the meeting at the end of revival as a meeting that was hold specially for children in order to bring the young lamb to Jesus.
If I were the audience attending the storytelling of “Salvation”, I would imagine the narrator’s attitude and voice to be formal, pensive, yet strong as someone who reflects and tells his own childhood experience in a dogmatic community that greatly affected his belief in life. The narrator would mount tension as he progresses with the story. He emphasizes his voice energetically when he arrives to the part where the preacher moaned, shouted, repetitively asked him and other children if they wanted to come to Jesus and be saved, and the part when the churchgoers burst into religious ecstatic with their mighty wails, moans, and joyous singing in the climax when he finally rose and went to the platform. This way he can transfer the sense of immense religious and communal pressures he felt in the revival, as he had no other choice but to accept the belief that he did not feel as true, to the audience. Subsequently, the narrator would tell the audience in a sorrowful voice about how shameful and painful this event was for him that he could not stand to cry in his bed because he felt conflicted with others’ expectation and his inability to tell the truth about his loss of faith. In that way, the narrator can create contrast in his voice, highlighting the dramatic irony.
In “Araby” we know that the narrator is an adult because he tells the story as if it is a recollection from the days when he was a young boy, when he played with his friends on the street of Dublin as an innocent child and also when he tasted his first experience of infatuation as a coming-age person. Further, the narrator also mentions his schoolwork as a monotonous child’s play, marking a departure from a child personality to a young adult with more mature thoughts.
Although “Salvation” and “Araby” both deals with painful childhood experience, in “Araby” the narrator’s painful experience of disappointment collides with romance, making it a bittersweet memory personally for him. Therefore, I would imagine the narrator’s attitude and voice to be informal, melancholic, with a sense of longing desire. He would use a soft tone, mixing the sense of the innocent adoration of femininity and perhaps, sexuality that he had not yet discovered, when he describes the first time he noticed his friend’s sister’s figure defined by light, how her dress swung as she moved her body, how her hair tossed from side to side, and later, the curve of her neck and her petticoat. He would build expectation as he goes along with his story, using a passionate voice to tell the audience about his days chasing her in the hope she would notice him, about how he could not stop thinking about his future encounter with her and if she would talk to him. When he comes to the climax, arriving in Araby, he would use the tone of disappointment to describe his feelings when he found nearly all stalls were already closed evoking worthlessness and frustration in him that also made him realize that his effort and infatuation towards Mangan’s sister was in vain and unreciprocal.
Ella, thanks for the good post, which explores the themes of the stories while also sharing some impressions of the narrators. I especially like your mention of how the “Salvation” narrator would build tension as he tells the story, and we’d hear that in his voice. I agree the narrator of “Araby” might have more melancholy demeanor. For him, the realization is much deeper than the simple loss of a girl. She has come to represent the only point of light and hope in his bleak life, so when he realizes that their “relationship” is a figment of his imagination, he is left with nothing. This is a huge moment for a young man. As an adult, he still seems to taste the bitterness of this realization.
Ella I share the view with you that the narrator for “Salvation” voice and attitude would be formal and pensive as he reflects on his childhood encounter with what he think his experience with Jesus should be, how he envision been saved to be, how he waited for Jesus to come to him and how lost he was when that did not happen.
You also point out that the Narrator of “Araby” is an adult telling the story of childhood recollection and explaining the transition ” further , the narrator also mention his schoolwork as a monotonous child’s play, making a departure from a child personality to a young adult” in both Narrator we found where one have Lost Faith and the other Hope
Deyli Moran
Narrators play a role where they come into depth towards their stories and recount in the sequence of events.
In “Salvation” by Langston Hughes we can comprehend that the narrator is an adult due to reason that he has gone into depth of what was going on with his situation. He was a twelve year old kid when he had learned the misconception of how a kid takes things when an adult explains things to them or in the sense of how it is being said since adults use metaphors to explain a situation and because of this it can confuse and have them thinking otherwise. In the text it states “when you were saved you saw a light, and something happened to you inside! And Jesus came into your life” what this means is a person needs to explain more to a twelve year old under the circumstances that in their mind they want to see that happen they want to feel something within them that it is true so he lost faith because he didn’t see or feel Jesus. With that being said he also felt guilt and dishonor that he had to lie because the situation was differently then what he had expected to be. It’s also in an adult way by the way the text is written, the strong vocabulary and also in a way of thinking out the box.
In “Araby” by James Joyce the narrator is an adult because of the ways he describes Mangan when she is standing in the doorway. Because he is a kid there is a misconception that he feels or believes he is in love with Mangan which causes him to go to an bazaar which is defined as “beauty, mystery and romance” but with that being the case he is a younger guy who is experiencing his first love and which he thinks he can achieve his goal when in reality he just ends up disappointing himself.
The voice and attitude from the author of “Salvation” if it were being told in a cafe or bar is you can say devastated or painful at the fact that he had to accept that what he was told did not come into reality and it made him think differently. The voice and attitude from the author of “Araby” if it were being told in a cafe or bar can be pathetic because he fell in love thinking he knew or he thought like an adult.
Hello Deyli,
I agree with your approach of both stories specially on “Salvation” as you mentioned he was young boy brought to a difficult situation and was not prepared to deal with all that pressure and expectations of “seeing” the light and “accepting” Jesus like all the adults and other children in there did. I like how you describe the tone as “devastated” as he had to deal with all that confusion from a young age and was not able to vent it out with his family. On the approach for “Araby” I totally as I also picture the narrator as someone with shame and bitterness towards relationships and love.
In “Salvation” it is self-evident that the narrator is trying to encounter his past memories to show that decisions were made with deliberation and not just international. Because he is an adult, the author often foreshadows his past and most significant feelings to describe the hardships and the immoral realities that question his own convictions like everyone else conforms. As the authors continue to share his memories. The author wanted to demonstrate that beliefs are ironic as he listens to the prayer “to bring the young lambs to the fold.” being a sinner isn’t a crime and he was certain that people are the main character of their own stories. Which leaves us the audience with the doubts about religion and how society normalizes what we inherit from our past experiences.
If I were the audience of the story “salvation”, I would imagine how questionable and formal can his thoughts be, yet his strong convictions and how he emphasis the difficult decisions he made during his childhood. How often follows the things he sees, listens, and truly believes about them? The author most likely is depressed and traumatized not because of his social status but that he wasn’t sure about his actions and the purpose who brought him to become a part of Christianity. He would be enthusiastic about culture, confusion in his thoughts, and that each of his words comes with a sense of disappointment to what he really thinks is moral and not.
In araby” the author often mentions his lovely and mature experience as he set his feelings towards the girl of his dreams and the enthusiasm and mindset that encourages him to achieve his goals. The boy was very emotional and naïve as he embarks on a painful journey of mixing desires and needs that describe how strong he feels about establishing a lovely relationship and what it really means.
In salvation and araby , the stories are given a sense of humor that creates irony. In araby, the naïve narrator whose efforts became a disappointment as he establishes a lovely relationship towards his crush. The authors often convey a message of respect and turning points that always remind the audience about truth love and destiny. What is expected and seen. Love is abstract, but money is not and that’s one of the most important realities that he learns from his past experiences. The author often used his passionate tone to show that being vulnerable is not a weakness and that if there was a god up in the sky, he would not let these precious feelings to fade away. The author often uses his voice to let the audience know how superficial he describes the physical aspect of the girl without knowing her true intentions. The author will always point out that love is ironic and that as long as one person fights for their dreams, it is meant to be a good ending.
I know that the Narrators are adults because they’re telling their life story from when there were form a young age, And expressed a lot of what they were feeling at that moment. The narrator from “Salvation” talks about how he felt in that church on how he didn’t believe there was a god and he only did it because he wanted to make his aunt happy. He knew he didn’t believe even when he was growing up still had to think about it. The Narrator “Arabay” he shows a very young minded mindset on the girl he so-called in love with and asks very naive about it.
The narrator “Salvation” had very confused and sad tone in his voice. It sounds like he wasn’t sure of anything or happy with the decisions he made to aspect god into his life, he that he was separated from his mother and father. When his aunt told him about being saving or about God he was confused because he didn’t know about or raised in it, It seems when his aunt was talking about taking god in that he was going to him once he took him in he had some belief but when he was up there he was confused and didn’t understand why God didn’t come to him so he mostly did it for his aunt happiness, it also made him sad because he wasn’t sure what he had aspected himself into.
The narrator “Araby” seems very navie if James Joyce was telling me this story at a cafe I would think that this young age boy has his first love that his older than him and feels he can win her heart over. He doesn’t seem to think when he is doing these things or understand what it is. He has an obsession with his friend’s sister and wants to impress her. The young boy thinks he is in love because of the way he looks at her and how he treats her, But he doesn’t know she may not feel the saame way about her or even be thinking of that way of him.
These narrators have different tones on how their story is told on how they viewed their experiences at a young age one person felt very sad confused and sad and disappointed another was very naive and had a childish mindset that didn’t understand what love actually was.
Rui Hou
From the way I described the events in these two articles, the narrator’s inner monologue determined that The narrator from “Salvation” and the narrator in “Araby” are both adult. If only two children are It is impossible to tell such a profound story. I think these two articles are intended to describe the story of two children through the way of thinking and narrative of adults so that we can feel the same. Just like the story narrated by Salvation, I gave up my decision and persistence for some external reasons. Our adults are actually the same in real life. We may make some choices against our will because of financial problems or family expectations. Although that is not what we want to do, in the end we have to make choices that are contrary to our own ideas in order to take into account the feelings of others or to survive
The narrator from “Salvation” started his story with a low voice because it was a sad experience. When he recounted that he was sitting in a chair waiting for God to save him, his voice was helpless, because he knew that the final result was not what he wanted. He described his voice as bleak at the end.
The narrator from “Araby” sounded cheerful when I first started telling the story, because my childhood was innocent and happy. As he discovered that adult life is boring and cold, and disappointed with various things, his voice became low.
Both short stories “Salvation” and “Araby” are told by adults reflecting on their early adolescent years. We know the narrator in “Araby” is an adult because he mentions that he goes to an all-boys Christian school and that he is still taken care of by his aunt and uncle. Also, in the story, it is mentioned that the boy is very naive. Usually, when we are younger we tend to be more naive and unaware of many things. In “Salvation” by Langston Hughes, the author mentions that “I was saved from sin when I was thirteen”. Right in that sentence, the author is letting us know that the person in this story is an adult who is talking about their past. Also, the author says how all the young people were going up to the altar and being saved except for him and his friend. He is putting himself in that category of young people, so yes he was young back then now he is an adult talking about his past.
As we are in a cafe the narrator of Salvation tells the story in a very sarcastic, slow, and low tone voice. He describes how when he was younger he was saved but not neccesarily. His attiude in the story is more so going with the flow of others in the church. He did not neccesarily get up because he wanted to, but because he was pushed to. He wanted to see the light of Jesus, but because he did not he lost all of his hope. In the end when he did accept Jesus,he did not see the light so he went home that night crying. It was because deep down he knew that he lied and deceived the people in the church.
The narrator in Araby would sound very naive and in a tone of mixed emotions and confusion.
Hi Eliany, I agree with you that “Salvation” was written in a sarcastic tone. The naivety of the child thinking he will actually “see” Jesus when he becomes saved, is an indication of his age and innocence, which is both humorous and sad at the same time! The fact that he felt he had to conform to peer pressure and receive Jesus because everyone else was, also shows his youthfulness. I appreciate his childlike faith, and that he was waiting to “see” the light, but find it very sad that he lost his faith because of this experience.
Caitlin, you’ve got to get in here sooner. Strictly speaking, this was posted on Monday of week 2.
Michael Tarkovsky 7/19/20
In the short stories of “Salvation” by Langston Hughes and “Araby” by James Joyce, both stories are told about the narratives childhood, from the Araby the narrator is a child who moves into a house that had its last resident deceased in the drawing room in the back and as he progressed in the day he mentions that he goes to school where all children in the nieghborhood go to and in the short story “Salvation” by Langston Hughes the narrator metions a special meeting between children that he was a part of.
In “Araby” and in “Salvation” both narratives are in the perspective of children but in different ways. In “Araby” the child was in love with a girl in his neighborhood and he told her that he would buy her something in the Bazaar. In the story “Salvation” it talks about a child’s fear of lying to the people he loves and the lies he told to get out of a situation he didn’t want to be apart of. Both end with the character dealing with their inner demons but in different ways. In the “Araby” he focuses on the vanity after he rejected a wmoans wares. In “Salvation” he falls under pressure after he had lied to his aunt about seeing jesus when she was crying.
Hi Michael, I like what you mentioned about the description of the home they lived in. It is quite a depressing thought to live in a place knowing someone had just died there. The author’s description “An uninhabited house of two storeys stood at the blind end, detached from its neighbours in a square ground” is a great source of imagery for a downcast scene! The fear of disappointing the people you love is a very real fear for a child, and adequately described here!
Michael, thanks for the analysis. However, have you addressed the second, more interesting part of the discussion prompt?
It is obvious to me that both of the narrators in the works “Araby” by James Joyce and “Salvation” by Langston Hughes are adults because they write in a very descriptive manner. They are writing about childhood memories from a distant and distinguished perspective. In “Araby,” there is no way a child could come up with sentences like “The cold air stung us and we played till our bodies glowed. Our shouts echoed in the silent street. The career of our play brought us through the dark muddy lanes behind the houses, where we ran the gauntlet.” The writer refers to “the career” of playing as an adult refers to his work, letting us know of his current stage in life. In “Salvation” the author tells us in the first sentence that he is thirteen years of age, “I was saved from sin when I was going on thirteen.”
The voice and attitude of the two authors differ. Langston writes in a simple, easy to read manner, honestly expressing the naivety of his childhood experience, while James Joyce’s tone seems a bit angry and morose, sharing the bitterness of coming to terms with childhood’s fleeting illusions.
Caitlin, have you addressed the second part of the discussion prompt?